


This Thing Called Love

by mysticanni



Series: Rubber Ducks [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Cake, Glitter, Knitting, Lingerie, M/M, Roses, Rubber Ducks, Valentine's Day, cocktails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22680211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticanni/pseuds/mysticanni
Summary: John and Phoebe spend time together while they wait for their partners, Roger and Crystal, to finish working on Valentine's Day.
Relationships: John Deacon/Roger Taylor, Peter "Phoebe" Freestone/Chris "Crystal" Taylor
Series: Rubber Ducks [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593166
Comments: 16
Kudos: 26





	This Thing Called Love

John stared at his cocktail. He wondered if Roger would be offended if he ordered a beer. Almost certainly, he concluded. He glanced up and saw Phoebe take a cautious sip of his own pink and glittery drink. ‘Is it nice?’ John asked. 

‘It’s lovely,’ Phoebe replied happily. ‘How is yours?’ 

John risked a sip and ‘Yeah, it’s good, actually,’ he replied. He didn’t know why he was surprised: Roger had the gift of knowing exactly which cocktail would please which recipient. Roger enjoyed concocting cocktails but today, on Valentine’s Day, John would have preferred it if Roger had just been creating drinks for him rather than standing behind the bar getting paid for whipping up delights for everyone else. (Although John thought Roger did look utterly delectable behind the bar: hair in a messy bun, moving gracefully as he collected the ingredients for the alcoholic treat he was preparing.)

Crystal was also behind the bar which was why John was currently occupying a booth with Phoebe, who had started dating Crystal just after New Year. John didn’t know Phoebe very well and had originally protested that he would wait for Roger at home. ‘I can spend quality time with Cat. Besides, I’m sure it isn’t good business practice for Crystal to be giving away a table on Valentine’s Day!’

‘Cat prefers her own company,’ Roger had told him, ‘although she loves you very much,’ he added hastily. (John was not entirely convinced by that: Roger’s unimaginatively named cat seemed to exhibit a pointed dislike for anyone who wasn’t Roger, as far as he could tell. At best she tolerated John, he felt.) ‘And its Crystal’s bar, so I expect he can do what he likes as far as giving tables away is concerned,’ Roger had continued. ‘He wants Phoebe to be there and I want you to be there and I would also like you to meet Phoebe properly. Crystal and Phoebe are my family,’ Roger had pointed out.

So here John was, awkwardly sipping a cocktail and wondering what to say to Phoebe. 

*

‘Do you think someone deliberately invented edible glitter or do you think it was discovered by accident?’ Phoebe wondered. 

John, who had appeared lost in thought, looked up. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, ‘I suppose the food industry might have researched it. Glitter itself was invented by accident. A man was trying out machinery intended to compress rubbish and accidentally invented glitter when the machine cut plastic sheets into tiny pieces.’

‘Sparkle from old rubbish,’ Phoebe murmured, ‘how lovely.’ He sipped his drink. ‘Did the man manage to compress rubbish too?’

John frowned. ‘I don’t know, actually. I must look that up later.’ 

‘Odd that glitter stems from someone trying to do something so practical,’ Phoebe murmured.

John nodded, ‘He was a farmer, I think, and machines were a hobby of his.’ Perhaps he had been in love with a Roger or a Phoebe who would have loved his accidental invention and immediately dreamed up uses for it (somehow John did not see Crystal as an enthusiastic lover of glitter). ‘It gets everywhere,’ John muttered darkly. 

‘It does,’ Phoebe agreed, ‘but it is pretty.’ 

*

Crystal brought over their starters. John supposed that was fair since Roger had brought over their drinks but he still wished it had been his boyfriend as Crystal slid into the booth next to Phoebe to claim a kiss. 

John had called Crystal and asked if there was any possibility he would give Roger the night off but Crystal had simply laughed and said there was no chance. ‘He’s my best bartender, John,’ Crystal had said, ‘I’m sorry but I can’t spare him.’ John looked towards the bar and caught Roger’s eye. Roger blew him a kiss. 

John glanced at the booth opposite, desperate to avoid staring at Phoebe and Crystal kissing. The booth opposite was occupied by a couple who were not talking to each other. A large bouquet of dark red velvety roses lay on the seat next to the woman. John had not got Roger roses. Would Roger have been expecting roses? Would Roger be disappointed? Although the woman who had received roses and was not talking to her partner.

‘Did you get Crystal flowers?’ John asked Phoebe once he had disentangled himself from Crystal and Crystal had gone back to the bar. 

‘No,’ Phoebe followed John’s gaze to the couple across from them. ‘Doesn’t seem to have done him much good: they both look rather miserable,’ he noted. ‘No, I didn’t get him flowers. Do you think I should have done? Will he have expected flowers? Oh dear... Did you get Roger flowers?’

John was relieved. ‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘I got Roger a duck,’ he added. ‘You know: a toy one to float in that big puddle at the end of the street when it rains.’

Phoebe grinned. ‘I love that he puts toy ducks in the puddle,’ he told John. ‘What is the new duck like?’ 

John fished his phone out of his pocket and found a photo of the duck to show Phoebe. It was a red duck with a white beak and wings, a little silver halo and white hearts scattered over its body. ‘Oh, how lovely, have you given it to him yet?’ Phoebe asked.

‘Not yet, no,’ John said, ‘we said we’d share a bottle of wine once Roger’s shift is over and exchange gifts and cards then.’ He sighed, ‘I wish I had got him roses now.’

‘I wish I had got some for Crystal, too,’ Phoebe said. ‘I baked him a cake but I’m not sure what kind of cake he is so I don’t feel very confident about it.’

‘What kind of cake he is?’ John queried.

Phoebe flushed. ‘You’ll probably think it very silly of me, but you know how Roger decides what someone’s signature cocktail is?’ John nodded, ‘Well, I’ve started to do that except I assign people cakes.’ 

‘But you don’t know what cake Crystal is?’ John asked. Phoebe nodded, looking downcast. ‘Do you know what cake I am?’ John wondered.

Phoebe’s face brightened. ‘Oh, you’re lemon cheesecake,’ he informed John, ‘zesty yet sweet.’

John blushed. ‘What’s Roger?’ he asked.

‘Roger is red velvet cake,’ Phoebe told him. He did not offer an explanation for this but John silently agreed that Roger was red velvet cake. ‘Your friend Brian is vegan carrot cake and Freddie is a Savoy cake.’

‘What’s a Savoy cake?’ John wondered.

‘They are actually very simple to make,’ Phoebe said, ‘but they look amazing. They are sponge cakes baked in a moulded tin and then they are elaborately decorated, usually with cream and fresh fruit.’ He produced his phone and found a picture of one.

‘That does look very Freddie,’ John agreed, taking a sip of his soup. 

Phoebe nodded. ‘Yes, yet I don’t know which cake my own boyfriend is.’ He sighed.

*

Roger seized John and showered him with kisses once he had set their main courses and fresh drinks down on the table. ‘Hi,’ John greeted him happily, once Roger drew back a little, ‘I love you too.’ 

Roger grinned. ‘You two look more like a couple than those two opposite you,’ he whispered, ‘I’m slightly worried about what you have been showing each other on your phones,’ he added.

‘Are you now,’ John laughed, ‘well, I’m afraid you’ll just have to wonder!’

Roger pouted, ‘You’re mean! Phoebe will tell me! Phoebs, what have you and John been showing each other?’ he demanded.

Phoebe smiled, ‘I’m afraid that information is classified.’

‘John is clearly a bad influence on you,’ Roger decided, ‘you’re normally so sweet, Phoebe.’ 

*

‘Well,’ Crystal demanded when Roger slid back round behind the bar, ‘what were they discussing?’ 

Roger shrugged, ‘Neither of them would say.’ 

‘And you just gave up?’ Crystal gave Roger a disbelieving look.

‘They are the two most innocent people in the world,’ Roger pointed out, reaching for glasses.

Crystal snorted, ‘Phoebe’s a blessed innocent; I’m not so sure about your John.’

Roger scooped crushed ice into a glass. ‘Crys, you know that couple that aren’t talking?’ Crystal nodded. ‘Well, he has bought her a big bouquet of roses. Did you get Phoebe roses?’ 

Crystal glanced over at the couple who weren’t talking. He couldn’t see roses. He hadn’t thought about roses. He should have thought about roses. Roses were traditional. A huge bouquet of red roses screamed ‘I love you’. Phoebe deserved roses. ‘No,’ he gulped, ‘I didn’t get Phoebe roses. Did you get John roses?’ Roger was a romantic. Roger would have got John several bouquets of roses. 

Roger shook his head. ‘I didn’t really think about roses,’ he said, jamming the lid onto the cocktail shaker. ‘I should have got roses,’ he sighed, taking his frustration out on the cocktail shaker. 

*

Crystal noted the roses when he served The Silent Couple more drinks. ‘Compliments of the management,’ he informed them when the man began to tell him that they had not ordered cocktails. 

They had been drinking wine but Roger had prescribed, ‘A Romance cocktail,’ Crystal set a glass in front of the man, ‘and Love Potion Number Nine,’ he informed the woman, as he set a glass with smoke curling from it in front of her. (‘Do we need a licence for that?’ Crystal had asked Roger dubiously, when he saw this alarming concoction. Roger had explained that cubes of dry ice made the ‘smoke’.)

He stopped briefly at Phoebe and John’s table on the way back to the bar, trailing his fingers down Phoebe’s arm. He was horrified to find himself blurting out, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get you roses!’

Phoebe captured Crystal’s hand and brought it to his lips. ‘I didn’t get you roses either,’ he said, ‘and I’ve been fretting about that!’ They both laughed.

‘Do you think Roger will expect roses?’ John frowned.

‘Roger is also having a crisis over his failure to obtain roses for you,’ Crystal informed him, ‘so I expect he will be over the moon at their absence!’

*

The Silent Couple were talking.

Roger smiled. ‘It worked,’ he told Crystal happily.

‘I expect it was more the ‘getting something free’ than the actual content of the cocktails,’ Crystal told him. (Secretly, he sometimes found Roger’s ability to match people with cocktails uncanny and occasionally found himself wondering if Roger did have some kind of magical powers.) 

‘It’s kind of chemistry, I think,’ Roger mused, ‘the way all the ingredients in the cocktail mix together and then how they react with the chemistry of the person.’

‘Bollocks,’ Crystal said, ‘why are you squirming like that,’ he added.

Roger blushed. ‘I’ve got these lace knickers on,’ he explained, his blush intensifying, ‘and they’re not very comfy.’

Crystal blushed too. ‘Is that John’s present?’ he asked, adding hastily, ‘no, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know!’

Roger gave him a saucy grin. ‘John gets to unwrap me,’ he said. 

‘I don’t wanna know, Waif,’ Crystal protested, ‘go and wipe down table three, please.’ 

*

‘Finally,’ John murmured as they emerged into the cold night air. He shivered and pulled Roger close for a kiss. ‘C’m’ on, I believe a bottle of wine awaits us!’

*

Cat greeted them at the door, accepting Roger stooping so he could press a kiss to the top of her head. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Cat,’ he murmured.

‘Your one true love,’ John joked, ‘I could get jealous.’

Yes, Cat thought, she was Roger’s one true love and always would be, whatever delusions John might be suffering from. She stalked past him and went out into the garden to give them some privacy. Cat had no fear that John had any chance of usurping her in Roger’s affections.

‘She’s my favourite cat,’ Roger told him, ‘and you’re my favourite person.’

‘Glad to hear it,’ John said, leaning in for a kiss. ‘Come and open your present.’ 

*

‘If I got an assistant manager,’ Crystal mused, as they walked arm in arm back to Phoebe’s house, ‘then I could take regular nights off to spend with you.’

‘That would be lovely,’ Phoebe beamed.

‘Roger could manage the place,’ Crystal said, sounding doubtful even as he spoke the words. ‘He’s got the experience. It would be a waste of his cocktail making skills though.’ 

‘I think Roger’s more of a creative type than a manager,’ Phoebe ventured. 

‘You could be right,’ Crystal agreed. ‘Did you have fun tonight? What is John like?’

*

Roger kissed the beak of the little toy duck. ‘She’s lovely, thank you so much! It’s a shame it isn’t raining, I can’t wait for a puddle to float her in!’

‘I’m glad you like... her?’ 

‘Jemima Puddleduck, I think,’ Roger murmured.

John grinned and continued to wrestle with the copious amounts of sticky tape denying him access to the badly wrapped parcel Roger had thrust at him. He wondered if he could surreptitiously get up and hunt for scissors and if he did that would it hurt Roger’s feelings?

‘Just rip it open!’ Roger advised him impatiently.

‘I’m trying to!’ John protested, ‘But it’s more tape than paper!’

‘Do you need scissors?’ Roger wondered but as he stood to hunt for some the wrapping paper finally disintegrated and John managed to extract his gift from the web of sticky tape.

‘Oh,’ John said, as he held up a jumper. It had a hand-knitted look about it, appearing to be rather baggy and with longer sleeves than John thought he would need. It was dark green.

‘Phoebe’s been teaching me how to knit,’ Roger informed him enthusiastically, his eyes shining. ‘I really like knitting! Cat thinks it’s a game, though, and tries to play with the wool so I’ve been going to Phoebe’s to work on it, although I would have had to do that anyway because it had to be kept secret from you, although you’re not here as much as I would like, of course... It’s harder now Phoebe and Crystal are seeing each other though. They get little enough time together as it is without me getting in the way... You hate it, don’t you?’

‘I love it,’ John said, slightly unsteadily, ‘I don’t think anyone has ever made me anything like this before out of love for me.’ He sniffed, blinking back tears, ‘I think the sleeves might be a bit long though, babe.’

Roger stroked John’s hair. ‘You can roll them up.’

*

Phoebe and Crystal lay intertwined on Phoebe’s bed. They had left a trail of clothes from the front door to the bed. ‘What were you showing John on your phone?’ Crystal asked curiously.

Phoebe laughed. ‘He showed me a picture of the toy duck he got Roger for Valentine’s Day and I showed him what a Savoy cake looks like.’

‘What’s a Savoy cake?’ Crystal wondered.

‘I’ll show you later,’ Phoebe murmured, kissing Crystal, ‘or maybe tomorrow...’

*

‘Good night?’ Roger greeted Phoebe cheerfully when he appeared at the cafe the following morning.

‘I’m so sorry I’m late,’ Phoebe gasped, ‘thank you for opening up.’

‘My pleasure,’ Roger grinned, ‘I hope you had lots of fun with Crystal.’ He enjoyed making Phoebe blush.

‘Did John like his jumper?’ Phoebe asked to change the subject. He hung up his coat and put on his apron. 

Roger looked up from kneading dough. ‘Yes, he seemed really touched that I had made something for him. He got me the cutest little duck for the puddle.’

‘That’s what he was showing me a picture of on his phone,’ Phoebe told him.

‘Oh,’ Roger laughed, ‘and what were you showing him?’ 

Phoebe told him, adding that it still bothered him that he didn’t know what kind of cake Crystal was. ‘I mean, he liked the chocolate cake I made for him yesterday,’ which they had breakfasted on that morning, ‘but I feel I should know.’ 

Roger shrugged. ‘Maybe one day you’ll just realise,’ he suggested. 

‘I hope so,’ Phoebe sighed. 

‘What did he get you?’ Roger asked, ‘I mean, don’t feel you have to tell me if it is private or...’ He blushed, thinking of things Crystal might have bought Phoebe.

Phoebe laughed. ‘He made me something too, actually,’ he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small piece of wood carved into a bird.

‘Oh, that’s beautiful,’ Roger breathed, ‘I didn’t know he was into wood carving!’

‘Nor did I,’ Phoebe said. ‘It’s lovely to have something made just for you. What is your next knitting project going to be?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Roger said thoughtfully. He looked up and met Phoebe’s eyes. ‘I won’t invade your space, though,’ he assured Phoebe, ‘I know you get little enough time alone with Crystal as it is.’ 

‘You’re always welcome,’ Phoebe told him. ‘Besides, Crystal is thinking of hiring an assistant manager for the bar so that he can spend more time with me,’ he blushed again at the thought of this; of Crystal wanting to be with him, ‘so I’m sure we can arrange something.’

John had suggested shutting Cat in another room while Roger knitted and Roger had been horrified. ‘It’s her home!’ he had protested, ‘She must be able to go wherever she likes!’ 

He smiled at Phoebe, ‘That would be really good, thanks.’ He slid a tray of scones into the oven and turned to hug Phoebe. ‘Thank you, and I’m so glad you and Crystal are happy.’

‘I’m glad you and John are too,’ Phoebe told him. ‘Life is good, isn’t it?’ 

Roger agreed that it was.


End file.
